Apologies for using too many abbreviations. Joelker kindly explained them already.
Yeah, definitely.
I first played this game years ago and eventually just quit when I started running into Nemesis bosses I just couldn’t beat, or only barely beat. And that was despite having played this game’s predecessor, Titan Quest. (which likewise was a process of trial-and-error-and-lots-of-deaths. )
I’d be playing and doing fine, only to suddenly start dying with no real clue as to how. And that was despite having guides and the occasional question on this forum.
Years later I came back and gave it another try when I really wanted to play an ARPG. Found a guide that promised me I could beat stuff even without skill and it was true. Strong enough to do just about everything, no issues.
Then I went back and revised my old sorcerer from before the hiatus. New cool legendary items! I easily doubled my DPS. Kubacabra no longer stood a chance!
A few hours later I ran into the Chtonian nemesis Grava’Thul on the way to Malmouth and got stuck again. Died four times in a row and could not make it through.
That’s when I started reading those other guides I linked above and trying to understand the mechanics. And finally managed to tweak my character to a point that COULD beat Grava without having to follow someone else’s build guide. (Even if the build I came up with was still… pretty dumb.)
All that waffling is to say: You’re not alone here, and Grim Dawn is an obtuse and confusing game. But it’s worth it to understand it, I find, and the guides on this forum really help there.
In that case I would personally recommend using Blade Arc like the guide I linked here, though obviously as a warlord the regen strategy that guide mentions doesn’t really make sense. The items and devotions should still work, you just need to max the Oathkeeper mastery bar for Guardians of Empyrion with maxed out Celestial Presence to reduce enemy physical resistance, and get some Ugdenbog leather augments to compensate for lost poison resistance.
Blade arc is A] pretty simple to understand, B] very satisfying to use, and C] great at dealing with crowds. Certainly a lot easier to understand than retaliation, which uh… I still don’t get. Can be done with a shield or with a 2 hander, the latter gives much nicer damage.
Blitz is also an option, but I personally found it a lot more frustrating when I tried it. Because of the cooldown I never managed to get damage up to a decent level when I tried.
The guide I link here is really nice because all the variants helped me compare and contrast and understand why certain skills worked or didn’t. All credits fo @anon91300220 for helping me begin to actually understand the game.